The Flying Tank: Ilyushin Il-2

[Sylvester Stadler]

The Military Channel presented an older program, which no doubt was
produced when Communism still ruled the old USSR, and which was
entitled The Flying Tank, an hour documentary on the Ilyushin Il-2.
The narrator reiterated the claim that Il-2 units, during the Kursk
battles of July 1943, destroyed 270 tanks of the 3rd Panzer Division
and in only twenty minutes destroyed 70 tanks of the 9th PD. No dates
were given for these astounding alleged achievements.

The best book regarding the German point of view on the Kursk battles
is Kursk 1943: A Statistical Analysis by Niklas Zetterling and Anders
Frankson which offers a wealth of accurate statistics on the German
Order of Battle and the strengths and losses of each German unit.
Another important work is The Battle of Kursk by David M. Glantz and
Jonathan M. House.

On 1 July 1943 the 3rd PD had a actual tank strength of 90 so the Il-2
certainly could not have destroyed 270 tanks. It is very common of
the Soviets to vastly exaggerate the German strengths in order to
rationalize their defeats and glorify their victories. The 9th PD had
a strength of 83 tanks that same date. During the time frame of 5-14
July 1943 (the length of the Kursk battles) the 3rd PD lost a total of
only 9 tanks destroyed (six Pz III and three Pz IV)! This is long way
from the claimed 270 tanks. During the same dates the 9th PD lost
only two tanks (both Pz IV). During all of July 1943 the 9th PD lost
a total of 25 tanks (7 Pz III and 18 Pz IV).

Geschichte der 3. Panzer-Division (Traditionsverband der Division) was
consulted and although several times the Soviet Air Force is
mentioned, the most that can be attributed thereto is more of a
nuisance value. No credit is given to the Il-2s as to anything
decisive. The most effective weapons in the Soviet arsenal are the
anti-tank mine belts, the anti-tank artillery fronts, and the
counter-attacks by the masses of T-34s.

It would have been interesting to learn from the documentary just how
great the losses among the Il-2 units were. The Il-2 was heavily
armored on the bottom of the aircraft but I believe that the Sturmovik
was vulnerable to cannon-fire from above, especially the six-gun Fw
190 (inc. four 20-mm cannon). My uncle, who was a rifleman in the 225th
Infanterie Division on the Russian front, once related his personal
experience of having the satisfaction of seeing eight Il-2s being shot
down by two Fw 190s (undoubtedly of JG 54) over the Kurland (Courland)
bridgehead during 1945.